Pakistan asked to highlight potential

Riyadh calls for countering negative perception to unlock Pakistan’s real potential

ISLAMABAD:

Saudi Arabian Ambassador to Pakistan Nawaf Saeed Al-Malkiy on Thursday said Pakistan possessed everything for growth and had great potential for business and economic progress that needed to be highlighted more effectively to attract foreign investors.

Speaking to business community during his visit to the Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI), the ambassador expressed interest in strengthening trade ties with Pakistan.

“Saudi Arabia wants to further deepen trade ties with Pakistan as both countries have great potential to promote bilateral trade in many areas,” he added. The envoy said Pakistan had great tourism potential and it needed to improve its infrastructure to attract foreign tourists.

Suggesting ways of attracting investment, he said consistency in policies and favourable environment would further promote domestic and foreign investment in Pakistan.

“Negative perception of Pakistan in the foreign world needs to be changed to unlock its real economic potential,” he emphasised, adding, “From January 2021, the process of exchange of trade delegations between Pakistan and Saudi Arabia will resume, which will further improve bilateral trade and economic ties.”

Speaking on the occasion, ICCI President Muhammad Ahmed Waheed stated that Saudi Arabian investors should explore joint venture and investment opportunities in China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) projects, which would also provide them easy access to the Central Asian markets.

He stressed that cordial relations between Pakistan and Saudi Arabia should be transformed into growing trade and economic partnership as the current volume of bilateral trade between the two countries was not reflective of their true potential.

Shedding light on trade activities, Waheed expressed concern that Pakistan and Saudi Arabia were doing trade in limited goods.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 18^th, 2020.

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